Hi there,
I'm a new snowboarder, I started snowboarding about 3 weeks ago. I'm very fanatic, right now I snowboard about 6 hours per week (a lot, considering I live in the Netherlands where there are no mountains around the corner :P). I snowboard at an indoor snowdome. I can do C-turns with my eyes closed and my arms on my back, and I can link turns quite easily on gentle slopes. But lately I've ran into a problem: I want to get started on slopes which are pretty steep, so I'm getting confronted with high speeds (high speed for me, for all you seasoned snowboarders it's probably still extremely slow). The ground at that indoor snowdome is only covered by a thin layer of snow, underneath that it's solid ice, so you can imagine I want to avoid falling. To improve as a snowboarder, I will have to go down that steep slope sooner or later, and even tough I feel like I'm ready for it I'm still not doing it because I'm afraid of falling with high speed on ice and breaking bones. Can anyone offer me a good piece of advise apart from "JUST DO IT!!!!"??

Stay low, make sure you bend those knees and you got that heel / toe down. Its all about progress you may not be able to bomb the whole mountain but just keep pushing yourself more and more each time. You can't be too scared of falling try not to think about it to much otherwise going fast is going to scare you everytime. Push yourself have faith in your skills!

It comes with time. You're afraid of going fast right now because you don't have good enough control and a high enough comfort level on a board to go fast.

That's a good thing. The self preservation instinct is a strong one. Keep riding and you'll get there. Until then, be safe and ride within your limits - for your sake and everyone else's. Travis Rice didn't get on a board and start throwing double corks right away ya know.

__________________
"People say that marijuana smoking is going to get in the way of my career. I say to them that on the contrary, my fighting career is getting in the way of my marijuana smoking." -Nick Diaz

Just keep on slowly pushing yourself. Try to find a balance where you're not afraid of falling but still riding intelligently. Concentrate on improving your turning and control and everything else will come.

Comfort and control on steeper terrain can come from a few tips or tricks to feel it out safely. First of all Bennett was right on STAY LOW that means bend more at the knees not the waist. This will lower your center of gravity and put more pressure on edges through your turns. Another thing to do is start controlling your speed just with turn shape and size. You don't need a steep hill for this just make your turns longer and narrower always pointing the board downhill. Last but not least always remember while learning you don't have to do everything perfectly the whole way down. Just try and do two or three faster turns then stop two or three more then stop. When you get comfortable with that try doing three or four turns. Im sure you get the point, have fun, stay safe and good luck!

It comes with time. You're afraid of going fast right now because you don't have good enough control and a high enough comfort level on a board to go fast.

That's a good thing. The self preservation instinct is a strong one. Keep riding and you'll get there. Until then, be safe and ride within your limits - for your sake and everyone else's. Travis Rice didn't get on a board and start throwing double corks right away ya know.

Quoted for truth.

I mountain bike and skateboarded a bunch. Mtn biking is all about speed and I can go really fast though the trees. 25 years of mtn biking in NorCal will help speed.

I am way better on a snowboard than I ever will be on a skateboard....And I have 30+ years riding on a skateboard.

Ice sucks. All ridiers tiptoe in ice, to different levels......an expert will seem like they are flying on the ice compared to a newbie.

As it has been said before... it comes with time. The first time hit a bunny slope with board pointed down the whole time, I felt that I was going entirely too fast. After riding for a while you will realize that that is not the case.

You will fall, don't worry about it or the pain. It's part of the process. I still fall every day I'm out there. I'm actually surprised if I've only had 2-3 falls over a full day. That's after 19 years of aggressive boarding. If you push yourself, you'll fall.

Second the ass pads suggestion. I have a pair I wear when I'm dicking around in the park.

I'm not much of a park guy, so they give me some more confidence there.

__________________
"People say that marijuana smoking is going to get in the way of my career. I say to them that on the contrary, my fighting career is getting in the way of my marijuana smoking." -Nick Diaz